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Dec 31, 1969 - 6:33 PM

By Jason Powell

WWE Main Event Live on WWE NetworkNewark, New Jersey

Byron Saxton and Tom Philips were on commentary... Cesaro, wearing an eyepatch, and Paul Heyman stood in the ring. Heyman said the Cesaro vs. Dolph Ziggler match could not take place. "Don't boo my client, boo Kofi Kingston," Heyman told the fans. Heyman said Kingston intentionally blinded Cesaro. Heyman set up a video that showed Kingston accidentally poking Cesaro in the eye and then rolling him up and pinning him.

Heyman said that for every action there is a reaction. He set up additional video footage from Raw of Cesaro attacking Kingston after losing the match. Heyman said Cesaro would not be competing on Main Event, but he would compete in the battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship.

Dolph Ziggler made his entrance with a mic in hand and took exception to Heyman referring to him as a "perennial runner up." Ziggler said some people might take exception because he won a Money in the Bank match and successfully cashed in to win the World Heavyweight Champion. He referred to himself as the hardest working man in sports entertainment and recalled winning the Intercontinental Title. Ziggler asked when Cesaro has achieved any of those things.

Ziggler told Heyman to tell the "walking James Bond villain" to man up. Big E came out and delivered a promo as he walked to the ring. He was in preacher mode as he spoke about being a former Intercontinental Champion. He said he strayed from the path of righteousness, but he will take the chance to get the title back.

Ryback and Curtis Axel's music interrupted E (thankfully). The said they will both be in the battle royal and they won't be stopped. Rob Van Dam made his entrance and said they all their accomplishments, then he stopped and said he doesn't know what Ryback and Axel have accomplished "aside from copying my ring gear."

A brawl broke out. Cesaro and Heyman walked away without getting involved. Ziggler, E, and RVD cleared Ryback and Axel from the ring. The Wyatt Family sounder played. Luke Harper told New Jersey they were coming, and Harper delivered the "run" line. The broadcast team said Rowan and Harper would be in action after the break... [C]

Powell's POV: WWE released a statement earlier today saying that Cesaro had been medically cleared to wrestle, so I'm not sure whether an audible was called or if they will still get to the match somehow. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear Rybaxel's music. E's preacher routine is just so out of nowhere. We've heard his normal speaking voice so he comes off like a weirdo who just started talking like a preacher for no reason.

The broadcast team announced RVD, Ziggler, and E vs. Cesaro, Ryback, and Axel in a six-man for later in the show... Saxton and Phillips set up footage of Chris Jericho, Miz, and Wyatt Family segment from Raw... A graphic touted that Jericho will appear on Friday's Smackdown television show...

1. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan vs. R-Truth and Xavier Woods. Harper and Rowan entered to their new music. Both Wyatt Family members hit big kicks. Rowan used a side slam on Woods to get the win...

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan beat R-Truth and Xavier Woods in 3:00.

The broadcast team hyped more footage from Raw... [C] Cameron and Naomi made their entrance. Footage aired of A.J. Lee beating Paige to win the Divas Championship on Raw...

2. Cameron and Naomi vs. Nikki Bella and Alicia Fox. Cameron and Naomi bickered a bit before what was announced as a handicap match. Stephanie McMahon appeared on the big screen and said that in the interest of fairness, she had assigned Fox to be Bella's tag partner. Alicia came out and hugged an uncomfortable Nikki, then went to the corner and clapped in an over the top manner. Alicia ended up costing her team the match, and Cameron pinned Nikki. Cameron strutted away happy with the cheap win...

Cameron and Naomi beat Nikki Bella and Alicia Fox in 1:30.

Backstage, Renee Young interviewed Sheamus, who was interrupted by Alberto Del Rio, who said America would have something to celebrate if he won the U.S. Title on Smackdown... The broadcast team hyped the main event and more footage from Raw... [C]

Powell's POV: I was distracted for a moment at the end of the Divas match and then made the horrible mistake of trying to rewind live WWE Network programming on the PS4. When you rewind, it skips back to the show that aired prior to whatever is airing live. I can't believe this still hasn't been resolved.

Footage aired from Raw of everything that involved Triple H and John Cena, as well as the Seth Rollins cash-in tease that was broken up by Dean Ambrose...

Backstage, Renee Young interviewed Paul Heyman and Cesaro. Heyman said his client was nearly intentionally blinded by Kofi Kingston on Raw and was not avoiding competition on Main Event. Cesaro spoke briefly in five different languages... Dolph made his entrance for the main event... [C] It was announced that Sheamus will defend the U.S. Title against Alberto Del Rio on Smackdown...

3. Rob Van Dam, Big E, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman), Curtis Axel, and Ryback. The broadcast team explained that the medical team ordered Cesaro to wear the eye patch for 24-48 hours. The babyface trio cleared the heels from the ring heading into the break. [C]

Cesaro lost the eye patch and worked over RVD. The heel threesome isolated RVD for a few minutes. Ryback actually went to the top rope and RVD dodged his splash attempt. RVD then made the hot tag to Ziggler, which was a little awkward because he had to reach past E to tag Ziggler. Dolph hit the Fameasser on Cesaro for a two count at 10:10.

Ziggler went for the Zig Zag, but Cesaro dodged it. Ziggler hit a wicked DDT instead. The other team members fought. Van Dam went up top to dive on Rybaxel, but Cesaro shoved him off and it ultimately had the same effect. Ziggler hit the Zig Zag on Cesaro and pinned him clean...

Powell's POV: This definitely felt like a throwaway show again this week, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt since I might be telling a different story had Cesaro not been injured and his singles match with Ziggler went on as scheduled. Still, this was a very missable show.